It is known to provide predictive traffic information, i.e., a forecast of the traffic situation in the future. Such techniques find application, e.g., in advanced vehicle navigation. Further, techniques are known to transmit predictive traffic information via a wireless connection, e.g., by employing broadcast or a mobile communications network. The employed protocol may vary and relate to, e.g., the Transport Protocol Experts Group (TPEG) protocol as specified by the Traveller Information Services Association (TISA) as part of the traffic forecast and prediction (TFP) data structure.
By such information, the driver of a vehicle is enabled to better plan and foresee possible delays and obstructions due to certain traffic conditions. For example, from U.S. 2009/0018759 A1 it is known to display predicted traffic information on a display within a certain focused time band, i.e., a certain future time period specified by beginning and end times. For example, a user may select the time band of the traffic information to be displayed. With such techniques, a user may get an overview of the forecast traffic situation in a spatio-temporal resolved manner by selecting a certain future point in time and displaying the predictive traffic information for that selected future point in time in the corresponding time band.
However, such techniques face certain restrictions. For example, to get an extensive overview of the forecast traffic situation it may be necessary for the user to select a plurality of future points in time, i.e., scroll through time in order to estimate when and where possible delays and obstructions may occur. This typically makes it necessary that a large amount of information is analyzed by the user which is time-consuming and may distract the driver from other tasks, including driving. Safety concerns may result.
Therefore, a need exists for more advanced techniques of displaying predictive traffic information. In particular a need exists for such techniques which provide a comprehensive overview of the spatial-temporal future development of the traffic situation.